by our College Data Analytics TeamBelow is federal data on the loans students use to pay for West Virginia Northern Community College, including completion-adjusted borrowing and a standard repayment estimate. The data below is drawn directly from federal sources.
At WVNCC, 7% of freshmen borrow to help pay for their first year, borrowing on average $4,798 apiece. This figure includes both private and federally funded student loans.
The average federally funded loan is $4,286, or about 77.9% of the $5,500 first-year borrowing cap for the typical first-year dependent student. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
For undergraduates overall at WVNCC, 15% rely on federal student loans toward their education, borrowing on average $5,327 per year. That amounts to 24.3% above the freshman federal average of $4,286.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $10,654 across two years and $21,308 over four years. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 15% |
| Average federal loan per year | $5,327 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 118 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $628,607 |
The median student at WVNCC borrows $6,000 in federal borrowing.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $6,000 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $10,245 |
| Students who withdrew | $4,000 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for WVNCC.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $1,483 |
| 25th percentile | $2,500 |
| 75th percentile | $10,321 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $17,750 |
How wide this percentile range is tells you how much borrowing varies across students at WVNCC.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for WVNCC.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 138 | $9,531 |
| Completed (graduates) | 49 | $8,262 |
| Did not complete | 89 | $9,777 |
On a standard 10-year plan, the median completing borrower would pay about $98.24/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at WVNCC.
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 54 | $7,266 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 84 | $10,469 |
Repayment burden translates the debt figures into what a borrower actually pays each month. WVNCC.
The default rate measures how many borrowers fall behind and ultimately fail to repay their federal loans. The federal two-year cohort default rate for WVNCC appears below.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 26.7% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 683 |
This rate follows a borrower cohort from the start of repayment through the two-year window the Department of Education uses.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $6,821 |
| Middle income | $5,769 |
| High income | $5,423 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $5,809 |
| Continuing-generation students | $7,800 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $5,000 |
| Independent students | $8,572 |
Federal data publishes the following gap measures for WVNCC.
The Difference Between Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
Subsidized loans pause interest while you are in school; unsubsidized loans do not. That difference compounds over four years, so the type of loan you take matters as much as the amount.
Did You Know?
Declaring bankruptcy does not erase federal student loan debt. If you stop paying, the federal government can garnish a portion of your wages until the loans are repaid.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.